Man admits to killing Canadian model in city

By Dong Hui  |   2008-11-18  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

A YOUNG man charged with the murder of a 22-year-old Canadian model confessed in court yesterday that he stabbed her to death during a late-night robbery in her Shanghai apartment building.

The defendant Chen Jun, who has just turned 18, told Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court that he went inside a residential complex on Zhaohua Road, Changning District in early July with the intention of committing a robbery, as the building gate was unlocked.

Chen decided to target the sixth floor when he saw the lift stopped on that level. He hesitated outside apartment 602, where the door was opened and lights were on, the court was told.

The room was rented at 4,800 yuan (US$703) a month by the JH Model Agency, the court said. The agency was a Taiwan-funded firm with ties to agencies in Europe to bring foreign models to Asia.

The victim, Diana Gabrielle O'Brien, a model from Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, shared the apartment with another Canadian model, Charlotte Wood.

Chen entered the apartment after hesitating for about half an hour. At this stage O'Brien was in her bedroom

O'Brien caught Chen as he was stealing a laptop in the living room. Chen said he forced O'Brien into her bedroom as she was "screaming in English."

In the bedroom O'Brien took money from her purse and offered it to Chen after he threatened her with a knife.

She then managed to flee from Chen after a struggle, but was chased into the stairwell between fourth and fifth floor, where she was stabbed repeatedly in the chest area, the court was told yesterday.

Prosecutors told the court that Chen called police as soon as he left the apartment complex and said: "A foreign woman is screaming for help in a residential complex near the intersection of Zhaohua Road and Dingxi Road."

Two police officers were sent to the area after receiving the call, but returned to base after they didn't hear any screams, prosecutors said.